Clamp for stretching wire fences.



S. W. BERRY.

CLAMP FoR- STRETGHING WIRE FENGES.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 24, 1903.`

Patnted Feb. 8, 1910.

r lll/ll, A

/Wf/ym/i;

T52/My; WW I l /Mc rn afs,

WHA/f5 STEPHEN W. BERRY, OF BELLMORE, INDIANA.

CLAMP FOR STRETCHING WIRE FENCES.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 24, 1908.

Patented Feb. 8, 1910. serial No. 450,079.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN IV. BERRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bellmore, in the county of Parke and State of Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Clamps for StretchingTire Fences, of which the following is a specification.

vThis invention relates to improvements in clamps to engage woven wirefencing whereby a power to longitudinally stretch the fence before thefastening of the fence to its supporting posts, may be conveniently andetliciently applied.

y The object of my invention is to provide a clamp which willsimultaneously grasp the entire width of the woven fence fabric; whichwill be simple and inexpensive in construction and quickly and easilyapplied and removed, and in which the pull or force applied towardstretching the fence will correspondingly tighten the clamp upon thematerial which is being stretched.

I accomplish the objects of my invention by the mechanism illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a view in side elevationof a fence in the process of construction with my invention in operativeposition thereon. Fig. 2 is a cross section of my improved clamp on theline 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking upwardly in the direction indicated by thearrows. Fig. 3 is a view of the two plates of my clamp, apart from eachother, the view showing the inner sides of said plates, and Fig. 4 is adetail showing the hooks and chains which are used with the clampingplates but in this ligure the clamping plates are not shown.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout. the severalviews of the drawing.

5 represents the woven wire material of any usual and well known patternfor the construction of fences and 6 one of the supporting posts towhich the material 5 will be fastened by staples in the usual mannerafter a preliminary stretching of the woven material by drawing itlongitudinally in the direction of arrow A, see Fig. 1. A properstretching of the fence is essential to keep it from sagging and to makeit etlicient for the purpose of turning stock. The difiiculty heretoforehas been to provide a satisfactory means for applying the stretchingpower to the fence-fabric, as all of the several horizontal strands ofthe fabric should be simultaneously and equally tightened.

In carrying out my invention I employ a pair of plates, preferably ofmetal such as iron or steel. 7 represents one of these plates and S theother. The plate 7 has a series of l perforations 9 along one of itslongitudinal edges, and the plate 8 has a correspondingly oppositeseries of tongues 10 along one of its longitudinal edges. The tongues 10are adapted to be passed through the perforations 9 to removably hingethe two plates together in the manner clearly shown in Fig. 2. By thusremovably securing the plat-es to each other they are adapted to beseparated and placed on opposite sides of the woven material 5 and thenunited with the horizontal strands of the material 5 passing between theplates. The inner or adjacent faces of plates 7 and 8 are longitudinallyribbed or corrugated for the purpose of bending kinks or corrugations inthe horizontal wires of the material 5 by the closing together of thesaid plates 7 and 8. The tongues 10 passing through perforations 9 actas hinges in opening and closing the two plates.

In the construction shown in the drawing the plate S is provided with acorrugation or rib 11 extending longitudinally of the plate along' thatedge which is opposite the tongues l0, and it also has a secondcorrugatio-n or rib 12, parallel with rib 11 and located adjacent theopposite edge of plate 8. Theplate 7 is provided with the longitudinalcorrugation or rib 13 so located that when the plates 7 and 8 are foldedtogether the rib 13 will lie between ribs 11 and 12. This will put acrimp or corrugation in the wires of the fence material 5 which willprevent the longitudinal movement of the clamping plates upon thehorizontal fence wires while the plates 7 and 8 are in their closedposition. In order to facilitate the engagement and hinging together ofthe plates 7 and 8, the edge of plate 7 containing perforations 9, willbe bent to an oblique position toward the inner side of the plate orthat side bearing the corrugation 13, and the tongues 10 will be bent to0blique positions inwardly or toward the side of plate 8 bearing thecorrugations 11 and 12. To make the engagement of tongues l0 with plate7 more positive I provide a reverse bend near the ends of tongues 10 toform a species of hook upon the ends of said tongues. Fig. 2 fullyillustrates this construction.

The plates 7 and 8 are forced together so as to clamp the fence wiresbetween them by means of hooks 14. There are four of these hooks andthey are used in pairs in the manner shown in the drawings in which itwill be seen that the hooks embrace those edges of the two plates 7 and8 which are hinged together. The hooks of each pair are turned inopposite directions which presents their stems in contact with the outersides of said plates 7 and 8. The stems of the hooks terminate with eyes15 to which are attached chains 16 and the chains connected with eachpair of hooks are connected with a single chain 17 and these chains 17,there being two of them, one for each pair of hooks, are connected witha single chain 18. The stretching power from any suitable source (notshown) is applied to the chain 18.

The two pairs of hooks are applied to the clamping plates at pointsadjacent to the ends of said plates, as shown in Fig. 1, in order toequally distribute the stretching` force along the clamp. The positionsof the hooks are retained by lugs or pins 2O projecting outwardly fromthe sides of plate T. These pins 20 keep the hooks, which are placedbetween the pins and the respective adjacent ends of the plate, frombeing drawn toward each other and toward the middles of the clampingplates, by the stretching pull on chain 18. It will be seen that thestem-side of a hook is placed against pin 2O and the other hook of thepair is placed against the first hook and between it and the adjacentends of the clamping plates. As the pull imparted through the chains tothe eyes of the hooks tends to force the hookeyes together, the tendencywill also be to force the outer edges of the clamping plates together,and therefore the greater the stretching force applied the greater willbe the grip which the clamp obtains upon the horizontal fence wires.

Tn the drawing I have shown the longitudinal projections 11, 12 and 13to be solid ribs of metal but obviously these could be bent out of thenormal thickness of the plates 7 and 8.

Having thus fully described my invention, what l claim as new, and wishto secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

Tn a wire fence stretching clamp, a pair of clamping plates one of whichhas a longitudinal edge bent oblique to the body of the plate andprovided with a series of perforations and the other plate of the pairhaving a corresponding series of tongues projecting from one edge andoblique to the body of the plate and adapted to be inserted through theperforations of the other plate to removably hinge the plates together,the adjacent or inner faces of said plates having alternate longitudinalprojections, one of said plates having a pin adjacent each of its ends,in combination with chains to which stretching power is applied, andhooks in pairs attached to said chains and removably embracing saidplates, said pairs being separated and held apart by bearing against thepins on said plates.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Greencastle,Indiana, this fifteenth day of August, A. D. one thousand nine hundredand eight.

CHARLES T. SoU'rI-IARD, WILLIAM W. JONES.

